How To Find Peace In A World Obsessed With Information

For several years, I lived in a town that won an award from some magazine for being the happiest city in America. But that same magazine also voted it the dumbest city in America based on something about the number of universities and how many people had college degrees. This is ridiculous because there are lots of people who are educated beyond their intelligence, and education and intelligence aren’t necessarily connected.

But that survey played into the idea that ignorance is bliss. Sometimes, it’s better just not to know and just go along blindly because more knowledge makes you miserable. King Solomon discussed this dynamic in Ecclesiastes 1:16-18: For with much wisdom comes much sorrow, and the more knowledge, the more grief.

“I said to myself, ‘Look, I am wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I have greater wisdom and knowledge than any of them.’ So, I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly. But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind. The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief. To increase knowledge only increases sorrow.” – Ecclesiastes 1:16-18

Ernest Hemingway said it this way: Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know. There’s this reality that the more you know, the more miserable it can make you. And I think what we’re living right now is a picture of that. We have access to more knowledge than anyone in the history of the world, but anxiety and depression are at an all-time high. We have instant access to anything we want to know on the Internet. We have thousands of organizations striving to bring awareness about all sorts of problems we need to address.

We have news streaming at us 24/7, but it seems to be making us more miserable than ever. It’s good to have the knowledge to learn and educate yourself. But when we get obsessed and driven to get more knowledge, it can actually torment us because oftentimes, more awareness actually makes you more miserable. Of course, lack of awareness also causes major suffering. So we face this constant tension of refusing to be ignorant and finding peace right where we are. And I think King David offers some insight into how to find that balance when he says in Psalm 131, 

“Lord, my heart is not proud;
    my eyes are not haughty.
I don’t concern myself with matters too great
    or too awesome for me to grasp.
Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself,
    like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother’s milk.
    Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me.
O Israel, put your hope in the Lord—
    now and always.”

It comes down to our heart. If we constantly seek knowledge, believing it will offer us something that only God can give, like safety, security, or power, we will just find ourselves constantly anxious. But if we trust in God, like a child trusts its mother to care for them, we’ll find peace and contentment. There is always more to learn and always more knowledge we can acquire. But we have to decide to be content right now and trust that God will give you the insight and guidance you need right when you need it for your situation right here under the sun. And that’s a reason for great peace.

Part 1: What Is the Key to a Meaningful Life?
Part 2: Finding Meaning in Life’s Monotony
Part 3: What Are We Searching for on Social Media?
Part 4: The Surprising Power of Old Truths in Today’s Word
Part 5: How to Accept What You Can’t Change
Part 6: How to Find Peace in a World Obsessed with Information

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